Compressed tissue product

ABSTRACT

Tissue products comprising an expandable dispensing carton and a compressed stack of folded tissues, such as facial tissues, can significantly reduce costs associated with shipping such low density products. Expansion of the expandable dispensing carton can be activated by the user or the retailer, thereby releasing the compression of the tissue stack and allowing the tissues to be dispensed normally.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

When shipping folded tissue products, such as cartons of facial tissues,a significant portion of the transportation costs incurred are due toshipping air because of the low density of the tissues. Consequently,when shipping by truck, for example, the volume capacity of the truck isreached before the weight capacity. Also, on the retailers' shelves, thebulkiness of the tissue products consumes shelf space and thereforelimits the number of items the retailers can stock. Unfortunately,placing more tissues into a given carton to increase shipping costefficiency and/or reduce consumption of retail shelf space createscompression within the stack of tissues and thereby makes it difficultfor the user to remove the first few tissues from the carton withouttearing them.

While the retailer often desires products which use less shelf space,there are disadvantages to using compressed or concentrated products. Itis desirable that compressed or concentrated products be sold at a unitcost, such as cost per sheet in the case of tissue products, which isequivalent to that of the bulkier, less concentrated products. However,shoppers may associate the lower volume of the product carton with therebeing less product in the carton and, upon seeing an equivalent cost fora smaller carton, assume that the product within the smaller carton isnot a good value compared to the product within the larger carton. Thisis particularly true for facial tissue, which has relatively low shopperinvolvement in being selected at the shelf. Thus, it would be desirableto have a product that could take advantage of the lower shipping costsassociated with a compressed or concentrated product, yet not have itspresence be affected at shelf due to having a smaller carton volume.

Therefore, there is a need for tissue products that can be shipped moreeconomically without sacrificing ease of dispensing or presence of theproduct on the retailer's shelf.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It has now been discovered that a tissue product can be made whichimproves shipping cost efficiency while maintaining acceptabledispensing characteristics.

Hence in one aspect, the invention resides in a tissue productcomprising a compressed stack of folded tissue sheets, particularlyfolded facial tissue sheets, constrained within an expandable dispensingcarton, said expandable dispensing carton comprising: (a) a rigid lowerportion having a bottom and four sidewalls; (b) a rigid upper portionhaving four sidewalls and a top with a dispensing opening through whichthe tissue sheets are dispensed, said upper portion and said lowerportion slidably fitting past each other; and (c) a releasableconstraining device, such as an adhesive tape or sticker, whichmaintains the upper and lower portions of the carton in a contractedposition until released by a user, whereupon the compressed stack oftissue sheets decompresses and raises the upper portion relative to thelower portion. In a particularly suitable embodiment, the upper portionslides over the bottom portion. However, in another embodiment, thelower portion slides over the top portion. Also, because the upper andlower portions can slidably move relative to each other, as the tissuesare removed from the carton by the user, the upper portion of the cartoncan adjust downwardly to eliminate or reduce the air space between thedispensing opening and the top of the tissue stack, thereby reducing theoccurrence of fallback. In this aspect and all other aspects of theinvention, the folded tissue sheets can be interfolded for pop-updispensing, or the folded tissue sheets can be simply be independentlystacked on top of each other for reach-in dispensing. Both forms oftissue products are well known in the art.

In another aspect, the invention resides in a method of making a tissueproduct comprising: (a) providing an expandable dispensing carton havingan expanded position and a contracted position, said expandabledispensing carton comprising a rigid lower portion having a bottom andfour sidewalls and a rigid upper portion having four sidewalls and a topwith a dispensing opening through which the tissue sheets are dispensed,said upper portion sized to slidably fit over said lower portion; (b)inserting a stack of tissue sheets into the bottom portion of thecarton; (c) vertically compressing the stack of tissue sheets within thecarton by lowering the upper portion over the lower portion; and (d)sealing the carton in a contracted position, whereby the stack of tissuesheets is constrained within the carton in a compressed condition.

In another aspect, the invention resides in a method of making a tissueproduct comprising: (a) providing an expandable dispensing carton havingan expanded position and a contracted position; (b) inserting acompressed stack of tissue sheets into the expandable dispensing cartonwhile the expandable dispensing carton is in a contracted position; and(c) closing and sealing the expandable dispensing carton in thecontracted position with a releasable constraining device, whereby thestack of tissue sheets is constrained within the expandable dispensingcarton in a compressed condition.

In another aspect, the invention resides in a method of providingplurality of expandable dispensing cartons to a retailer comprising: (a)loading a plurality of expandable dispensing cartons into a shippingcontainer, each expandable dispensing carton containing an uncompressedstack of folded tissues; (b) compressing the plurality of expandabledispensing cartons within the shipping container, whereby the stack offolded tissues within each of the expandable dispensing cartons iscompressed; (c) closing and sealing the shipping container, whereby theplurality of expandable dispensing cartons are maintained in acompressed position by the closed shipping container; (d) shipping theshipping container to the retailer; and (e) opening the shippingcontainer, whereby the plurality of expandable dispensing cartons expandto their expanded position and the stack of folded tissues within theexpandable dispensing cartons is decompressed.

In another aspect, the invention resides in a method of providingplurality of expandable dispensing cartons to a retailer comprising: (a)compressing a plurality of expandable dispensing cartons, eachexpandable dispensing carton containing a stack of folded tissues andhaving an expanded position and a compressed position; (b) loading theplurality of expandable dispensing cartons into a shipping container andclosing the shipping container, whereby the plurality of expandabledispensing cartons are maintained in the compressed position by theshipping container; (c) shipping the shipping container to the retailer;and (d) opening the shipping container, whereby the plurality ofexpandable dispensing cartons expand to their expanded position and thestack of folded tissues within the expandable dispensing cartons isdecompressed.

In another aspect, the invention resides in a shipping containercontaining an assembly of expandable dispensing cartons containing acompressed stack of folded tissue sheets, said expandable dispensingcartons being constrained in a contracted position by the shippingcontainer.

As used herein, “expandable dispensing cartons” are dispensing cartonsfor use by consumers, such as facial tissue cartons, which are made of arigid material, such as cardboard or the like, which contain anddispense the unused portion of a stack of tissues until all of thetissues have been dispensed. Such cartons are specifically designed tobe capable of expanding in the opposite direction to that in which thecontained tissue stack is compressed and can be released from theircontracted position to their expanded position by the user. As usedherein, the “contracted position” is the position or state of theexpandable dispensing carton when the stack of tissue sheets within thecarton is compressed. Conversely, the “expanded position” is theposition or state of the carton when the stack of tissue sheets withinthe carton is not compressed.

By way of example, particularly suitable expandable dispensing cartonscan comprise a rigid lower portion and a rigid upper portion that canmove (slide) relative to each other. Suitably, the rigid upper portionis sized to be slightly larger than the lower portion so that the upperportion can slide over the lower portion. The difference in thedimensions of the upper and lower portions to enable relative movementcan vary, although a snug fit is desirable, provided any frictionalresistance does not prevent the compressed tissue stack from expanding.The individual expandable dispensing cartons can be constrained ortemporarily immobilized (sealed) in the contracted position by tape,stickers, plastic overwrap, straps or any other suitable means that canbe manipulated by the consumer to allow the expandable dispensing cartonto expand to its expanded position. In the expanded position, thecompression of the tissue stack within the carton is relieved to enablethe first several sheets to be dispensed from the carton withouttearing. A further advantage of expandable dispensing cartons of thistype is the ability of the upper portion of the carton to automaticallylower itself, or be lowered by the user with slight downward pressure,from the expanded position as tissue sheets are removed from the carton.As a consequence, the distance between the dispensing orifice and thetop of the tissue stack within the carton is minimized, which in turnreduces the tendency for fallback to occur. (“Fallback” occurs duringpop-up dispensing when the next sheet within the carton fails to bepartially withdrawn through the dispensing opening upon removal of thepreceding sheet and is facilitated by a large distance between the topof the stack of interfolded sheets and the dispensing opening. Fallbacknecessitates the need for the consumer to reach back into the box, grabthe leading sheet and pull the leading sheet through the dispensingorifice.)

As used herein, “tissue sheets” includes paper sheets suitable for useas facial tissue, bath tissue, table napkins and/or paper towels.

In the interests of brevity and conciseness, any ranges of values setforth in this specification contemplate all values within the range andare to be construed as written description support for claims recitingany sub-ranges having endpoints which are whole number or otherwise oflike numerical values within the specified range in question. By way ofa hypothetical illustrative example, a disclosure in this specificationof a range of from 1 to 5 shall be considered to support claims to anyof the following ranges: 1-5; 1-4; 1-3; 1-2; 2-5; 2-4; 2-3; 3-5; 3-4;and 4-5. Similarly, a disclosure in this specification of a range from0.1 to 0.5 shall be considered to support claims to any of the followingranges: 0.1-0.5; 0.1-0.4; 0.1-0.3; 0.1-0.2; 0.2-0.5; 0.2-0.4; 0.2-0.3;0.3-0.5; 0.3-0.4; and 0.4-0.5. In addition, any values prefaced by theword “about” are to be construed as written description support for thevalue itself. By way of example, a range of “from about 1 to about 5” isto be interpreted as also disclosing and providing support for a rangeof “from 1 to 5”, “from 1 to about 5” and “from about 1 to 5”.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic illustration of an expandable dispensing cartonand a stack of folded tissues. Both the carton and the stack of foldedtissues are in their “normal” expanded or uncompressed state.

FIG. 2 is a schematic illustration of a tissue product comprising acompressed stack of folded tissues constrained within an expandabledispensing carton in its “contracted” position.

FIG. 3 is a schematic illustration of the product of FIG. 2, wherein theexpandable dispensing carton is in its expanded position and the stackof folded tissues has expanded and at least substantially recovered toits original uncompressed height.

FIG. 4 is a schematic illustration of a two-piece expandable dispensingcarton in accordance with this invention having a top (upper portion)that slidably fits over a bottom (lower portion).

FIG. 5 is a schematic illustration of the expandable dispensing cartonof FIG. 4 in a contracted position and maintained (sealed) in thecontracted position with a removable sticker adhered to a sidewall ofthe upper portion and the bottom of the lower portion of the carton.

FIG. 6 is a schematic illustration of an expandable dispensing cartonhaving accordion-type sidewalls that enable the carton to expand andcontract in the vertical direction. This carton design is particularlyuseful when a shipping container is used to maintain a plurality ofexpandable dispensing cartons in their contracted position duringshipping.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

Referring to FIG. 1, the invention will be schematically described inmore detail. As shown in FIG. 1, the stack (S) of folded tissues has aninitial non-compressed height (hs₁) and the expandable dispensing carton(C) has a non-compressed or expanded position height (hc₁) as measuredbetween the inside surface of the top face (F₁) of the carton and theinside surface of the opposing bottom face (F₂) of the carton. Alsoshown is the an oval dispensing opening (O) in the top face, throughwhich the tissues are dispensed. Preferably, (hs₁)≦(hc₁) so that whenthe user opens the carton, the stack of folded tissues is not compressedor not significantly compressed to the extent dispensing of the tissuesis adversely affected. The carton is designed such that its internalvolume may be decreased and increased by relative movement of the topand bottom faces of the carton in the vertical direction (perpendicularto the plane of top face (F₁)).

FIG. 2 schematically illustrates the product of this invention in a formsuitable for shipping. As shown in FIG. 2, in which the front sidewallof the expandable dispensing carton is removed for purposes ofillustration, the stack of compressed folded tissue sheets (S) isconstrained within the expandable dispensing carton (C) when theexpandable dispensing carton is in the contracted, expandable position.During manufacturing, the stack of tissues can be separately compressedand inserted into the expandable dispensing carton while the carton isin the contracted position, such as by inserting the compressed stack orclip of tissues into an open end of the closed and sealed carton. Thisis easily accomplished with sealable end flaps on the upper and lowerportions of the carton as are commonly used to load partially-assembledtissue cartons with uncompressed tissue clips or stacks. Alternatively,particularly for a two-piece expandable dispensing carton as illustratedin FIG. 4, for example, the tissue stack can be placed into the bottomof the carton in an uncompressed state and the top of the carton can beplaced over the stack and used to compress the stack as the top islowered to the carton's contracted position. In either case, thecontracted height of carton is (hc₂), which again is measured betweenthe inside surface of the top face of the carton and the inside surfaceof the opposing bottom face of the carton, such that (hc₂)<(hs₁). Thecompressed height of the stack of sheets is (hs₂), where (hs₂)=(hc₂).

FIG. 3 schematically illustrates the product of FIG. 2 of this inventionafter the user has released the expandable dispensing carton closuremeans and the carton has been allowed to vertically expand to itsexpanded condition as the compression of the stack of tissues within thecarton is released by the user. Under this condition, the expanded stackof tissues has raised the top face of the carton such that (hs₃)=(hc₃).

As mentioned above, FIG. 4 illustrates one type of expandable dispensingcarton or carton suitable for purposes of this invention. As shown, thecarton comprises a top cover or upper portion (T) having a height (ht)and a receptacle or bottom portion (B) having a height (hb). Aspreviously described in connection with FIG. 1, the heights of the topcover and bottom receptacle are measured relative to the inside surfacesof the top face and bottom face, respectively. As shown in thisembodiment, the top cover has a top face (F₁) and four sidewalls and thebottom receptacle has a bottom face (F₂) and four sidewalls. The lengthand width dimensions of the top cover are selected such that the insidedimensions of the top cover are larger than the corresponding outsidedimensions of the bottom receptacle so that the top cover slidably fitsover the sides of the bottom receptacle as shown. Clearances betweencorresponding sidewalls of about 0.1 inch or less are suitable forreliable operation without being too loose.

For purposes of this embodiment, ht+hb=hc₁, provided the face of the topcover, when lowered, can contact the top of the stack and compress thestack before its downward travel is stopped. In other words, if theheight of the top cover is too great, i.e. (hc) is greater than (hs₁),the carton will close before the stack can be compressed. Also, thestack height of the non-compressed stack of folded tissues (hs₁) (seeFIG. 1) must be greater than (hb) in order to allow the stack to bepartially exposed and thereby compressed by the overlapping top face asit is lowered onto the stack of folded tissues. Preferably, (hs₁) isless than or equal to (ht+hb) so that, when the carton is opened by theuser and the stack compression is released, the stack will not press upagainst the inner surface of the top face, which might detract fromdispensing. As shown in FIG. 4, the compressed height of the carton(hc₂) will be greater than or equal to the larger of the height of thetop cover (ht) or the height of the bottom receptacle (hb). It must benoted that while the general shape of the expandable carton can berectangular as shown, other shapes can also be employed, such ashexagonal, triangular, square and the like. In such cases, all that isrequired is that the top cover slidably fits over the bottom receptacle.

In the embodiment of FIG. 4, optional carton or carton graphics can beselected such that the bottom receptacle can be a solid color while topcover can contain various graphic images such as are commonly used fortissue cartons. Such an arrangement provides that the graphic images ontop cover are not altered by the change in height that occurs when thecarton is expanded. Preferably the solid color on the bottom receptacleis a complementary color relative to the graphics colors on the topcover.

FIG. 5 illustrates a product of this invention in which the expandabledispensing carton of FIG. 4 is maintained in a closed, sealed,expandable position with an adhesive sticker (L) that can easily beremoved by the user. However, unlike the embodiment shown in FIG. 4, inthis embodiment the bottom of the top cover is flush with the bottomface of the bottom receptacle. In any given embodiment, the degree towhich the top cover and the bottom receptacle overlap in the closed orcontracted position will depend upon the height of the stack of tissues,the heights of the top cover and the bottom receptacle, and the degreeof compression desired. From an aesthetics standpoint, it is preferredthat the top cover completely overlap the bottom receptacle, as shown inFIG. 5, to provide a cleaner appearance. The compressed package can berestrained in the compressed state by any suitable releasableconstraining device, such as a removable or slittable adhesive strips orstickers, which allows the top and bottom components of the carton to beheld immobile relative to one another until an intentional action isundertaken to break the restraint. Multiple restraining points may beemployed, including the entire periphery of the bottom of the carton. Ina specific embodiment the releasable constraining device can be a polyoverwrap, such as a plastic sleeve covering the top, front side, bottomand back side of the carton.

Upon release of the restraint, the compressed carton expands to height(hc₃) (see FIG. 1), and the compressed stack of tissues expands toheight (hs₃) such that: (hs₃)≦(hc₃); (hs₂)<(hs₃)≦(hs₁); and(hc₂)<(hc₃)≦(hc₁).

FIG. 6 is a schematic perspective view illustrating an accordion-typeexpandable dispensing carton useful for purposes of this invention wherea shipping container is used as the releasable constraining device asherein describe below. As shown in FIG. 6A, the expandable dispensingcarton (C) is in the expanded position having a carton height (hc₁). Aplurality of fold lines 5 are provided around the periphery of thesidewalls of the carton to enable the carton to partially collapse withdownward pressure. FIG. 6B shows the carton of FIG. 6A in the partiallycollapsed or contracted position in which the sidewalls buckle along thefold lines to decrease the interior volume of the carton. In thisposition, the carton has a height (hc₂). FIG. 6C is an end view of theexpandable dispensing carton of FIG. 6B. The accordion-type cartons canbe suitably loaded with a stack of tissues through open side flaps (notshown) while the carton is in the expanded position. Once the tissuestack is inserted, the end flaps are closed in a conventional manner.The carton can then be vertically compressed to the contracted positionwith the tissue stack inside.

While the concept of this invention is suitable for single cartons oftissue to be expanded by the ultimate user, it can also be suitable forretailers. This aspect of the invention can be advantageous becauseconsumers do not always pay attention to the number of sheets in a boxand often times they use the volume or height of the box as a visualmeans for perceiving which product on the shelf contains more units ofproduct. Hence a compressed carton of tissues, while on the shelf, maybe perceived by the consumer as containing less product than anon-compressed carton even when the compressed carton may have asignificantly greater number of sheets. For this reason, at times, itmay be desirable for the decompression and expansion of the expandabledispensing carton to be done by the retailer prior to the carton beingplaced on the retailer's shelf. In this manner, the benefits of lowershipping and storage costs are still realized while mitigatingperceptual issues regarding quantity of product in the carton by theconsumer.

When the decompression is done by the retailer, it is preferable to nothave to release the compression of each expandable dispensing cartonindividually. For example, multiple expandable dispensing cartons can beprovided in a shipping container, such as a corrugated box. The numberof cartons within such shipping containers can be any number, but istypically from about 20 to about 40, normally assembled in a cube. Theexpandable dispensing cartons, each containing a stack of foldedtissues, are collectively compressed either before or after they areloaded into the shipping container, which is then closed or otherwisesealed while the expandable dispensing cartons are in a compressedstate. The interior of the shipping container thus serves as theconstraining device to maintain the all of the individual expandabledispensing cartons in the compressed condition. When the shippingcontainer is opened, such as at the retailer location, the individualexpandable dispensing cartons of tissue expand to their expandedposition to give them a normal appearance on the shelf. In this manner,consumer appeal on the retailer shelf is maintained while stillachieving lower transportation and storage costs. Alternatively, insteadof using a corrugated box, the multiple compressed expandable dispensingcartons can also be maintained in a compressed state with plastic wrap,such as shrink wrap.

In all embodiments, suitable mechanical means for collectivelycompressing the assembly of multiple expandable dispensing cartons andloading them into the shipping container, or loading the multipleexpandable dispensing cartons into the shipping container and thereaftercollectively compressing them, can be determined by those skilled in thepackaging arts. For example, the assembly of cartons can be insertedinto an open shipping box from the top and pneumatically compressed by aplaten while the cartons are in the shipping box. The platen isgradually removed as the top flaps are closed, one by one.Alternatively, a flat rectangular piece of cardboard can be placed ontop of the cartons prior to compression in order to assist maintainingthe cartons in the compressed state as the top flaps are closed. Thiscardboard would remain inside the closed shipping box. Alternatively,the assembly of multiple expandable dispensing cartons can be verticallycompressed in any suitable manner, such as between two large, thinplates placed above and below the assembly, and inserted sideways intoan open shipping container. The two plates are slidably removed and theshipping container is thereafter closed. Alternatively, the shippingcontainers can be loaded by hand.

If an expandable dispensing carton of the kind disclosed in FIG. 4 isused, it may be advantageous to provide a means to prevent the top coverfrom easily separating from the bottom receptacle when the shippingcontainer is opened by the retailer. This can easily be accomplished byproviding one or more of the sidewalls of the top and bottom portionswith one or more protrusions at appropriate locations, such as v-shapedhooks pointed in opposite directions, for example, which mechanically orfrictionally engage each other and prevent the top cover from beinginadvertently completely lifted off of the bottom receptacle.Alternative devices, such as adhesively attaching the top and bottomsections together with a paper strap of an appropriate length, can alsobe used.

In still another embodiment, a multi-unit vertical bundle of expandabledispensing cartons can be compressed as described above. The multi-unitbundle is held in the compressed condition by a plastic film wrap asconventionally used today to package bundle packs. The number ofexpandable dispensing cartons within the bundle can be two, three, fouror more.

When the stack of tissues is interfolded for pop-up dispensing from theexpandable dispensing carton, a detachable “surfboard” may be present onthe top face F1 (such as represented by the oval opening of FIGS. 1-4).Such surfboards are a common feature of current commercially availabletissue cartons. If the percent expansion of the compressed cartonexceeds the percent expansion of the compressed stack of tissue sheetsby a significant amount such that a substantial air space is createdwithin the carton above the top of the expanded stack, dispensing of thefirst sheet may be compromised and may require the consumer to reach farinto the opening to dispense the first sheet. This may be rectifiedusing recently-developed technology where the top sheet is attached tothe surfboard, such as is disclosed in US 2007/0045335 A1 to Szymonskiet al., published Mar. 1, 2007, entitled “Tissue Sheet Dispenser andProcess For Making Same”, which is herein incorporated by reference.Attachment of the surfboard to the top sheet is further facilitated bythe compression step during manufacturing, thus creating a more forcefulcontact and adhesion between the top sheet and the surfboard.

The initial heights of the stack (hs₁) and the carton (hc₁) may varydepending upon the number of sheets within the stack, the caliper of theindividual sheets and the nature of the folding of the sheets. Ingeneral, (hs₁) will be from about 60 to about 120 percent of (hc₁), morespecifically from about 70 to about 110 percent of (hc₁), and still morespecifically from about 80 to about 100 percent of (hc₁). In thecompressed state, (hs₂) will equal to (hc₂). Suitably, (hc₂) is fromabout 20 to about 80 percent of the height (hc₁), more specifically fromabout 30 to about 70 percent of (hc₁), and still more specifically fromabout 40 to about 60 percent of (hc₁).

The expanded height of the carton (hc₃) can be expressed in terms of thedifference between the original carton height (hc₁) and the contractedcarton height (hc₂), such that (hc₃)=(hc₂)+α(hc₁−hc₂), where “α” is therecovery coefficient of the carton. The recovery coefficient “α” canrange from about 0.3 to about 1, more particularly from about 0.5 toabout 1, and still more specifically from about 0.7 to about 1. Whenα=1, (hc₃)=(hc₁). Likewise, the expanded stack height (hs₃) can beexpressed in terms of the difference between the original uncompressedstack height (hs₁) and the compressed stack height (hs₂), such thaths₃=hs₂+β(hs₁−hs₂), where “β” is the recovery coefficient of the stackof tissue sheets. While it is preferable that the stack height expandwith the release of the package compression, it is not a requirement ofthis invention. Thus “β” can be from 0 to 1, more preferably from about0.2 to 1, and still more preferably from about 0.3 to 1.

A feature of this invention is that the total volume of the product, andnot just the stack height of the tissue stack, must be reduced when thetissue stack is compressed, i.e., a 3-dimensional shrinkage is requiredfor the invention to be cost-effective for shipping purposes. Thus thevolume (V₂) of the compressed package must be less than the volume ofthe original non-compressed package (V₁) prior to compacting as well asless than the volume of the decompressed package (V₃) after therestraining means is removed.

As previously mentioned, another advantage of the expandable dispensingcarton design as illustrated in FIG. 4 is that as tissue sheets areremoved from the carton, the height of the carton contracts so thatdispensing can be further facilitated by reducing the occurrence offallback. Thus as individual tissue sheets are removed from the cartonthe height of the carton becomes less than the initial expanded height(hc₃) of the carton. In general, the final height of the expandabledispensing carton after all of the tissue sheets have been removed fromthe carton will be from about 20 to about 90 percent of hc₃, morespecifically from about 30 to about 80 percent of hc₃, and still morespecifically from about 50 to about 70 percent of hc₃.

EXAMPLE

In order to further illustrate the invention, the bottom panel wasremoved from a 160 count KLEENEX® facial tissue box (Box 1) havingdimensions of 9.375 inches long, 4.75 inches wide, and 3.25 inches high.The 160 sheets had a height of 3.25 inches in an uncompressed state. Thesheets were removed from the box. The top panel was removed from asecond identical box of facial tissue (Box 2). Two slits were cut oneach long side panel of the second box. The slits were cut approximately½ inch from the end panels and were cut down to within ½ inch of thebottom face. These cuts allowed the first box, which had the bottompanel removed, to fit over the second box, which had the top panelremoved. The resulting carton was similar to that of FIG. 4, in whichthe modified Box 1 became the top of the expandable dispensing cartonand the modified Box 2 became the bottom of the expandable dispensingcarton. Ninety-two sheets from Box 1 were placed on top of the 160 countclip (stack) of tissue sheets in Box 2 (now the bottom). The remainingsheets from Box 1 were discarded. The resulting 252 sheet count stackhad an uncompressed height of 5.125 inches. The top was fitted over thebottom containing the 252 sheet count clip and pressed downwardly. Theclip was compressed by lowering top until the bottom edge of the topaligned with the bottom edge of the bottom. The top was then secured tothe bottom with tape on all four sides of the resulting expandabledispensing carton. The tape was placed such that it spanned the jointbetween the sidewall of the top component of the carton and the bottomface of the bottom component of the carton. The compressed box heightwas 3.25 inches.

The surfboard was removed from the top of the expandable dispensingcarton in order to dispense the tissues. No tissue could be dispensedfrom the box as the tissue tore immediately due to compression of theclip of tissues.

The tape strips holding the sides together were then slit using a knifeto allow the carton to expand and relieve the compression of the stackof tissues. The top of the carton rose such that the expanded cartonheight was 4.5 inches. The tissues could now be dispensed withouttearing. While pulling out the first tissue, the carton top rose to5.375 inches and stayed at that height. Subsequent tissues were removedfrom the carton without incident. The top component did not fall duringdispensing, but could be lowered with gentle pressure on the top face.With proper sizing of the bottom and top components of the expandablecarton, the top could be made to fall on its own as the clip is used up.

A carton volume reduction of approximately 37% was achieved:((5.125−3.25)/5.125)). Cardboard packaging required was reduced by 4%from 34.6 grams per 100 sheets of tissue to 33.2 grams per 100 sheets.As a result, the cost savings associated with the material and shippingcosts for such a product would be significant.

It will be appreciated that the foregoing example, given for purposes ofillustration, is not to be construed as limiting the scope of theinvention, which is defined by the following claims and all equivalentsthereto.

1. A tissue product comprising a compressed stack of folded tissuesheets constrained within an expandable dispensing carton, saidexpandable dispensing carton comprising: (a) a rigid lower portionhaving a bottom and four sidewalls; (b) a rigid upper portion havingfour sidewalls and a top with a dispensing opening through which thetissue sheets are dispensed, said upper portion and said lower portionsslidably fitting past each other; and (c) a releasable constrainingdevice which maintains the upper and lower portions of the carton in acontracted position until released by a user, whereupon the compressedstack of tissue sheets decompresses and raises the upper portionrelative to the lower portion.
 2. The tissue product of claim 1 whereinthe releasable constraining device is a sticker or adhesive tape.
 3. Thetissue product of claim 1 wherein the releasable constraining device isa plastic overwrap or plastic sleeve. 4 The tissue product of claim 1wherein the expandable dispensing carton has a height in a contractedposition and a different height in an expanded position, wherein theheight of the expandable dispensing carton in the contracted position isfrom about 20 to about 80 percent of the height of the expandabledispensing carton in the expanded position.
 5. The tissue product ofclaim 1 wherein the expandable dispensing carton has a height in acontracted position and a different height in an expanded position,wherein the height of the expandable dispensing carton in the contractedposition is from about 30 to about 70 percent of the height of theexpandable dispensing carton in the expanded position.
 6. The tissueproduct of claim 1 wherein the expandable dispensing carton has a heightin a contracted position and a different height in an expanded position,wherein the height of the expandable dispensing carton in the contractedposition is from about 40 to about 60 percent of the height of theexpandable dispensing carton in the expanded position.
 7. The tissueproduct of claim 1 wherein height of expandable dispensing carton, afterall of the tissue sheets have been dispensed, is less than the height ofthe expandable dispensing carton in the expanded position.
 8. The tissueproduct of claim 1 wherein the top portion slidably fits over the bottomportion.
 9. The tissue product of claim 1 wherein the bottom portionslidably fits over the top portion.
 10. A shipping container containingan assembly of expandable dispensing cartons containing a compressedstack of folded tissue sheets, said expandable dispensing cartons beingconstrained in a contracted position by the shipping container.
 11. Amethod of making a tissue product comprising: (a) providing anexpandable dispensing carton having an expanded position and acontracted position, said expandable dispensing carton comprising arigid lower portion having a bottom and four sidewalls and a rigid upperportion having four sidewalls and a top with a dispensing openingthrough which the tissue sheets are dispensed, said upper portion sizedto slidably fit over said lower portion; (b) inserting a stack of tissuesheets into the bottom portion of the carton; (c) vertically compressingthe stack of tissue sheets within the carton by lowering the upperportion over the lower portion; and (d) sealing the carton in acontracted position, whereby the stack of tissue sheets is constrainedwithin the carton in a compressed condition.
 12. A method of making atissue product comprising: (a) providing an expandable dispensing cartonhaving an expanded position and a contracted position; (b) inserting acompressed stack of tissue sheets into the expandable dispensing cartonwhile the expandable dispensing carton is in a contracted position; and(c) closing and sealing the expandable dispensing carton in thecontracted position with a releasable constraining device, whereby thestack of tissue sheets is constrained within the expandable dispensingcarton in a compressed condition.
 13. A method of providing plurality ofexpandable dispensing cartons to a retailer comprising: (a) loading aplurality of expandable dispensing cartons into a shipping container,each expandable dispensing carton containing an uncompressed stack offolded tissues; (b) compressing the plurality of expandable dispensingcartons within the shipping container, whereby the stack of foldedtissues within each of the expandable dispensing cartons is compressed;(c) closing and sealing the shipping container, whereby the plurality ofexpandable dispensing cartons are maintained in a compressed position bythe closed shipping container; (d) shipping the shipping container tothe retailer; and (e) opening the shipping container, whereby theplurality of expandable dispensing cartons expand to their expandedposition and the stack of folded tissues within the expandabledispensing cartons is decompressed.
 14. A method of providing pluralityof expandable dispensing cartons to a retailer comprising: (a)compressing a plurality of expandable dispensing cartons, eachexpandable dispensing carton containing a stack of folded tissues andhaving an expanded position and a compressed position; (b) loading theplurality of expandable dispensing cartons into a shipping container andclosing the shipping container, whereby the plurality of expandabledispensing cartons are maintained in the compressed position by theshipping container; (c) shipping the shipping container to the retailer;and (d) opening the shipping container, whereby the plurality ofexpandable dispensing cartons expand to their expanded position and thestack of folded tissues within the expandable dispensing cartons isdecompressed.